Indicted developer found dead off Mt. Tam cliff

A Marin County man facing federal fraud charges was found dead Tuesday afternoon after his car plummeted off a cliff in Marin County.

Bijan Madjlessi, 58, of Mill Valley was found in a car about 1 p.m. that had dropped over a 400-foot embankment along Highway 1, just north of Panoramic Highway outside Mill Valley, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said. Madjlessi was pronounced dead at the scene.

Madjlessi and three others were indicted in early April on federal charges accusing them of conspiracy, bank and wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, false bank entries and obstruction of justice.

Madjlessi, prosecutors said, schemed to defraud Sonoma Valley Bank, which collapsed in 2010. Also indicted were the bank’s former CEO, Sean Cutting, 44, of Sonoma; its chief loan officer, Brian Melland, 45, of Santa Rosa; and attorney David Lonich, 59, of Santa Rosa.

The charges against the group related to a residential real estate project in Santa Rosa, Park Lane Villas East. Madjlessi, prosecutors said, defaulted on a $30 million loan on the project in 2008, then conspired with the three others in 2009 to use Sonoma Valley Bank funds to buy back his own defaulted loan and regain control of the property through a straw corporation.

After appearing in court last month, Madjlessi was released in lieu of $250,000 bail. If he would have been found guilty, he would have faced nearly $8 million in fines and decades in prison. He was scheduled to appear in court for a status hearing this week, according to court documents.

Madjlessi’s lawyer, Steven Bauer, said Madjlessi was innocent.

“Compounding the tragedy is that he died before he could clear his good name in our courts,” Bauer said. “He firmly believed he would defeat his accusers.”

Madjlessi’s family reported him missing on Sunday. His cause of death has not been determined and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident, Barclay said.